


Tales of Lethbridge-Stewart: A Timey-Wimey lunch date

by Pearlislove



Series: Kate Stewart Appreciation Week 2017 [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Bittersweet, Gen, Kate Stewart Appreciation Week, Time Travel, Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-02-02 12:06:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12726336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove
Summary: Kate has a timey-wimey encounter on her lunchbreak.





	Tales of Lethbridge-Stewart: A Timey-Wimey lunch date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fiveroundsrapid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveroundsrapid/gifts).



> Theme: Favourite Kate Stewart adventure
> 
> Prompt: alien tech gone wrong
> 
> Dedicated to Fiveroundsrapid because she's having a tough time and feelign down and I want to cheer her up with some Kate Stewart. I love you honey and I hioe you'll feel better soon!

  
It had begun as an absolutely normal day for Kate. She'd been filing paper work, filling in forms and answering emails from Martha Jones - currently dispatched to a secret mission - making the hours fly by until finally it was time for her scheduled lunch break. That is, whenever there was time for a scheduled lunch break... but today she seemed to be lucky.  
  
Feeling all tired and phobic from being stuck in her office, Kate decided to venture outside and check on the ravens. There had been some issues with a few of them recently, and she wanted to make sure that they'd been fixed to a satisfactory standard.  She did not want to risk a repeat of the incident that had occurred last time their settings had been off.  
  
She steps outside, drawing in a deep breath but not having time to exhale, before she heared screaming. Loud, booming voices calling out to one another coupled with the sound of running and in a few seconds Kate have entered full battle mood.  
  
She pulls out her gun and runs around the corner of the building, almost firing in surprise and fright as she comes face to face with an armed man.  
  
"Watch out, woman! I could have shot you!" The man complains, backing off a few steps and lowering his gun. It's a classic, old fashioned model of the kind Kate's father always fancied. The man himself is dressed in a pristine military uniform coupled with dark hair and a rather impressive moustache.  
  
Swallowing thickly, it takes Kate but a second to realise who she was staring at. Her own father, picked up from the seventies and dropped straight into the twenty-first Century, moustache and all.  
  
She stands there, staring and unable to think as her whole brain malfunctioned. Her father, her dead, buried teen feet underground father, had come back.  
  
Young Alistair regarded Kate carefully, almost critically, before speaking himself when she didn't. "I'd say, Miss, are you quite alright? I did not mean to..." Alistair never get to finish his sentence, a second male voice interrupting him.  
  
"Alistair! Step away from that woman!" The Doctor screamed. Kate recognises him instantaneously, having seen so many photos of him that the real deal hardly seemed as impressive. "We shan't involve people of the future in our quest. Simply do what we came for, and then leave as quickly again, as agreed."  
  
"As we agreed." Alistair nodded, taking another step away from Kate. "I'm sorry miss, but I believe we shall go." He begins to walk away, following after The Doctor who is already well on his way. A sudden, intense, panic grips Kate and she reach out to stop him.  
  
"Wait! I can help you. Whatever you need I can help you." She holds on to his arm, as tight as she possibly can, and knows she never wants to let go. To have her father back, if just for a minute, has tears clouding in her eyes, and she wish she could make the fleeting moments last forever.  
  
  
"Alistair, I told you to step away from that woman!" The Doctor is coming back around, now, seeing that Alistair has not followed his advice. The old man is clearly angry, and even less than five minutes after meeting him, Kate wonders how her father put up with him on a daily basis for five years.  
  
"But she says she can help us" The Brigadier offer feebly, glancing between the unknown woman and The Doctor and clearly torn about what to do.  
  
"Help us? How will she help us find Kate do you figure?" The Doctor asked, before turning to Kate directly. "Young woman, have you seen a blonde three year old in a green dress anywhere here?" He frowned, fiddling with something that Kate thought might be a rudimentary version of the sonic screwdriver as he waited for her answer.  
  
The question itself took Kate entirely by surprise, and she had to take a moment to compose herself while she tried to figure out what to answer. Carefully, she let go of Alistair's arm, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.  
  
"Well, no. But if you are looking for a child...Kate did you call her? I can help you find her." Kate declared, stretching her back and trying to appear as much of an authority as she could next to the impossibly tall man in front of her.

 

The Doctor stared at her, their eyes meeting and a silent battle seemingly being fought between them, until finally The Doctor looked away. “Very well then, it is decided. Brigadier, be a good chap and fill her in will you? I’ll check here on the other side of this corner…” Not waiting for an answer, The Doctor rounded the corner, bumbling ahead as Kate and her father was left behind.

 

“I am sorry Miss. He does that a lot.” Alistair apologised, smiling a rather wobbly smile as they started following The Doctor. “The thing is my daughter, Kate, she was visiting me at work and unfortunately stepped into a time portal that someone ended up placing in my office.” The Brigadier explained, sending The Doctor a dirty look at the last part.

 

“I was aiming for Metabilius three, but it seems I miscalculated. The TARDIS claims this is where it went instead.” The Doctor added, seemingly not bothered in the slightest.

 

“But this is an active military base!” Kate protested, suddenly realizing the full extent och the danger her younger self  - Kate still couldn’t quite believe it was three year old her - was in. “There is soldiers and a big weapon deposit here! She could be hurt or worse, killed!” The words left her mouth, but Kate couldn’t process it. She couldn’t imagine that she might die, only three years old, in a year when she should in reality be over forty.

 

Beside her, Kate could see her father pailing as he, too, understood the danger. “Doctor...:” he whispered faintly, and Kate grabbed onto his arm almost automatically, wanting make sure he did not topple over.

 

“Yes, I know Brigadier. But we shall find her before any harm can be done to her. However, I am not familiar with that there would active military facilities in the Tower of London. What year is this?”

 

Kate wasn’t sure if she should answer it. She was standing next to a over forty years younger version of her now deceased dad, and feared that him finding out he was in the future would lead him to figure out who she was. On the other hand, she needed to say something. “The girl, do you know where she landed? She might have come through to..to this year from where you did? In that case it would probably be best advised to go back to where you came from to look for clues.” Kate suggested carefully, and though she had a feeling The Doctor knew what she was doing, he played along.

 

“Quite right. An excellent suggestion Miss…?” He looked at her, lifting a questioning eyebrow, and Kate swallowed, trying not to let on that he had just asked the one question she hoped he would not ask.

 

“Stewart. K...Katherine Stewart. UNIT science department, at your service.” Kate smiled, praying to whatever god was listening it would not be too transparent. Kate wanted nothing more than to reveal who she was, but she knew the consequences it would bring, and she could not justify it. No matter how much she loved and missed her father she could not break the boundaries of space and time.

 

“Well, alright then Miss Stewart. I’m John Smith and that us Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. Our vehicle is over here” The Doctor points around the corner, running off at a pace that should be impossible for such an old man, and Kate and The Brigadier can do naught but helplessly try to follow.

 

Ten minutes later, they’ve come half-way across the tower, and Kate can finally see the TARDIS looming ahead. The big blue box is parked badly and leaning heavily to the left, making it look as though it’s about to topple over. Unfortunately, there is no sign of the girl that they are looking for , and Kate is starting to feel nervous. If something happened to her, it would jeopardize Kate’s own future as well.

 

Despite it being seemingly futile, they took a walk around the TARDIS, scanning the nearby area for any kind of signs that the girl had been there.

 

“Brigadier! Miss Stewart! Over here!” Finally, it was The Doctor screening as he’d run ahead again, digging something out of a piles of leaves.

 

“Doctor! Did you find Kate?” Kate calls out to The Doctor, running ahead of her father to not have to watch the  tiny glimmer of hope in her father’s eyes, thinking maybe, just maybe, they had found him.

 

Seeing that look in his eyes makes Kate want to yell. She wants to scream to him that she’s standing there right beside him, only inches away and completely safe and sound. She want him to see the exact same look haunting her eyes every time she looked at her still living father standing beside her.

 

But he won’t see it and he doesn’t see it, and the both of them keeping on running straight ahead to The Doctor.

 

“No, I’m sorry old chap. Just a shoe, but it’s hers, is it not? It means she was there.” The Doctor held up the small white sneaker that Kate immediately recognised as her own. She had kept them and taken care of them until her own five-year old daughter got to try them on, promptly getting  them thrown into a bonfire in what she still as a teenager claimed an accident.

 

“Taking us slightly closer, because it’s hers, but you've yet to find her Doctor and frankly my patience with you and your ridiculous activities are running short!” The Brigadier, more angry than afraid at this point, and was building up to a complete outrage, yeling at The Doctor as at least half an hour had passed and he had no more to show for their efforts than a white shoe.

 

“Yes, and I am rather trying Brigadier, but if you had not be a dumb sod who brought a child into a military base, which is frankly a ridiculous choice even without my perfectly functioning and harmless, if moving, portals, then that is on you!” The Doctor shouted back, pushing The child shoe against The Brigadier’s chest and forcing him to take it, before he abruptly passed it on to Kate. She could tell that a storm was coming now, and prepared herself for the hit.

  


“Well so says my damn wife!!!” Alistair exploded, screaming louder than ever before in pure, untempered rage. His eyes were burning with more rage and hatred than Kate had ever seen in a single human being, even The Doctor pulling back at his violent outburst.

 

“Dad!” Kate couldn’t keep the words from slipping out of her mouth. Her father was falling apart right in front of her, the bitter and ugly side of her parents divorce which she never saw at the time being revealed in front of her. Kate needed him to come back, to be her dad again, because she couldn’t handle seeing him like that. So she did what ever little girl would - she called for her daddy. “Dad please don’t...don’t do this. Please.”

 

The Brigadier, half-way through his explosively angry outburst, froze. Kate’s words hit him like blows to the head, shaking his brain and telling him to wake up. Slowly, he turned around, facing the other woman. “Tiger? Tiger is that...is that you?” He formed the words slowly, uttering her childhood nickname with dedicated fondness. Tears were close at hand and Kate wasn’t far from watching her father cry as he regarded her, his only child and daughter.

 

“Dad, I’m so sorry...I wasn’t going to tell you. But I couldn't, it couldn't watch you throw yourself away to rage like that. We’re Lethbridge-Stewart, we’re so much better than that.” Carefully, Kate edged forward, coming closer to her father before suddenly grabbing his fist. Gently, she pried open his hand, placing the finger tips again the middle of her palm. “Can you feel that dad?” She asked, guiding his finger around the area. The stark white line stood out in comparison to her beige skin.

 

“You cut yourself on a kitchen knife when you were two, slicing up your entire hand. We had to take you to the ER.” He smiled, slowly, his eyes lifting to face Kate’s. The Brigadier looked into his daughter's eyes, clear blue orbs and pale skin framed by blonde curls just like her mother. There was a trembling smile on his daughter's lips too and he could tell this meant just as much to the both of them. “I hope I’m a good father. “ He says suddenly, acting on instinct and pulling the woman into a hug.

 

Kate could feel his arms squeezing her waist as he pulled her close, and she closed her own arms around his neck. The desperate feeling of wanting to hold on as hard  she could for as long as she could came back, and Kate could feel her heart beating frantically in her chest. “You are. You are the best father.” Despite all, Kate remembered to use present pronoune, most definitely not being allowed to reveal that he had in fact died so long earlier.

 

Despite all, Kate didn’t want to change a single memory she had of her father, and she dearly hoped their current encounter would not change what was his future and her past.

 

An enternity later, the father and daughter  finally started to let go of one and another. Slowly moving apart, they were interrupted by the sudden noise of a TARDIS coming into existence, whirring and creaking as it came along. The attention of all three persons - The Doctor only having awkwardly stood beside them as everything happened - looked in direction of the sound.

 

Disappointingly, there was no TARDIS to be seen - proving that it must be further away then the distance they could see with their bare eyes - but soon enough, they could hear footsteps closing in. As if working through one giant hive mind, all of them held their breath, waiting with fear and anticipation as the steps came closer.

 

Breaking out from behind a bush, was a tired-looking older man with dark hair and a Beatles haircut. He was moving along at a rather quick pace, but was clumsy in his motions, tripping and almost toppling over every four steps, only to regain his balance at the last possible second and continue merrily on his way.

 

As he came even closer, it quickly became clear that he was carrying something in his arms, soft snores emitting from a bundle of tartan quilts held in his arms. “Did someone lose a baby? I’m afraid she only has one shoe, but I think it might do.” The man smiled, a ridiculous little grin, and Kate felt a weird tingling sensation inside her. An electrical current running through her limbs, the voltage increasing the closer the man came.

 

“Doctor, is that Kate?” In the blink of an eye, Alistair was next to the other man, taking the bundle of quilts into his own arms, pulling it close to his chest. A small, naked foot stuck out, waving around, but the baby appeared to still be asleep.

 

“Quite so. Found her myself, on the other side of the castle. Of course, seeing as the dear sweet dandy here was yet to even spot her, I had to bring her back myself.” The Doctor turned to the other Doctor, smiling smugly. “You really should shape up, old chap. Next time I can’t come in to pick up your pieces.” The Doctor commented to The Doctor.

 

“I’d rather you didn’t.  Actually, if you had just minded your own business we’d have found a solution quite soon.” The Doctor replied angrily, glaring at the small man across from him.

 

“Well it doesn’t matter, now does it? We got Kate back, so now you can take us home in that blasted machine of yours, Doctor.” The Brigadier ordered, walking his way over to Kate and standing next to her, baby Kate still sleeping in his arms. The energy current running through Kate seemed to increase even more, the tensions inside her growing the closer her former self came to her current self.

 

Almost as if in trance, Kate slowly moved towards the naked foot still sticking out of the blanket. It was small and pink like the feet of small children tended to be, and Kate got an irresistible urge to touch it. Slowly, her fingers moved towards it, wanting to feel the soft, warm flesh underneath her hand.

 

“Don’t!” Just inches away from touching her younger self, Kate was stopped as two sets of hand wrapped around her arms, The Doctor standing on each side of her.

 

“Don’t do that, dear child, or you might regret it when the timelines collide.” The small Doctor said patiently, pulling back her nearly touching hand.

 

“Quite so. Be a good girl and say goodbye to The Brigadier, then we’ll be on our way and you can go back to wherever you came from. Preferably forgetting all about this, too.” The older, taller Doctor said kindly.

 

“She will probably do so, either way. Two of her is bond to fuzz the linear memory, and that is not counting the effect of the both of us being here.” The Doctor argued to himself, who growled slightly in response.

 

“It’s fine.” Kate cut in sharply, shaking herself free of the two men. “I’ll just...I’m just going to say goodbye.” The words felt like acid in her mouth. She was saying goodbye to her father, knowing very well it’d be last time she spoke to him.

 

The Brigadier smiled kindly, tactfully letting one of The Doctor take his Kate as he put all his attention on her older version. “Kate. Tiger. It’s...it’s been so good to see you. To know you. Because sometimes I doubt, if we’re doing all this parenting business right at all.” He sighed, staring up into the sky before looking down at her again. “But now I’ve seen you, and I can tell, that we did it right. I’m proud of you Kate.”  His voice is earnest and his eyes tell Kate that he means it.

 

Kate feel her airways constricting as she watch him, she can’t breath and tears are threatening in her eyes. “I’m sorry, dad… I wish I could have been better. I shouldn’t have...I wish didn’t...I’m sorry!” Words escape her, and finally she just throws herself around his neck, letting him pull her into a tight hug as she cried.

 

“I’m sorry I’m gone” Finally, just as Kate was finished crying and trying to break from his grip, he whispered in her ear. He whispered the only words Kate never thought she’d hear him say, and though she didn’t know how he’d known, it was all she’d ever needed.

 

As both Doctors, Kate’s father and her younger self went their way, quite literally walking off into history, Kate stayed stuck in place.

 

Now that the they were leaving, for the first time, Kate’s brain had time to start catching up to everything that had happened. To have let two versions of The Doctor and her father and herself only three years old….it rushed to her mind so quickly that she simply couldn't cope, it became too much and she could feel the world fading into black before her eyes.

 

The timelines took out their right, making Kate sink into sweet darkness and robbing her of the memories she once carried. She lost it all, but one thing they could never robb her of, was the pair of white children's shoes resting in a box in her closet once more.  They told a story, that she could never remember, but rested in her heart, always.

 

Kate held the shoes in her hands, holding them to her heart and smiling.

 

“I love you dad”

 


End file.
